After ushering in a yawning, exhausted-looking Ai Haibara, Yoshimura immediately apologised to Luo Shu:
"My apologies. This child said she was visiting the professor next door earlier, so it took some time to locate her."
Luo Shu glanced at Ai Haibara before asking curiously:
"The professor next door? Professor Agasa?"
Ai Haibara stopped mid-yawn, giving Luo Shu a surprised look.
Yoshimura smiled with narrowed eyes: "You know Professor Agasa, too?"
"We've crossed paths once. He's a decent civilian scientist."
As he spoke, Luo Shu eyed Ai Haibara before inquiring, "How did this child get acquainted with Professor Agasa?"
Yoshimura led Ai Haibara inside cheerfully: "According to Professor Agasa, they hit it off immediately - he nearly adopted Ai as his granddaughter."
"Oh?" Luo Shu gave Ai Haibara an amused look.
Ai Haibara remained expressionless, coolly meeting Luo Shu's gaze.
Guiding Ai Haibara to the counter and watching her climb onto a stool, Yoshimura asked: "What would you like to drink, Ai?"
"Coffee," Ai replied flatly.
"Drinking coffee at night can make it hard to sleep. Would you like milk instead?" Yoshimura said with a grandfatherly smile.
"Fine." Ai Haibara frowned but accepted Yoshimura's kindness.
As Yoshimura cheerfully went to fetch fresh milk from the fridge, Ai turned her gaze towards Luo Shu.
She regarded this man, with whom she'd only interacted once before, with wariness.
Though Yoshimura had never explicitly stated it, after living in his home for so long, she'd gradually sensed something unusual.
In her view, Yoshimura's identity was that of an assassin secretly trained by Luo Shu.
The place she currently resides could essentially be considered the headquarters of a killer organisation.
Now facing the leader of these assassins, Ai couldn't help feeling somewhat curious:
"Grandpa Yoshimura mentioned you wanted to see me?"
"That's correct." Luo Shu looked down at Ai's childish yet delicate face before smiling. "I did request to meet you, Miss Shiho Miyano."
Ai showed no reaction, merely observing Luo Shu calmly, unsurprised that her identity had been uncovered.
After two or three seconds of silence, she frowned:
"So you need me to develop poison for you?"
Luo Shu wasn't surprised by Ai's composed demeanour.
Given Ai's exceptionally high IQ and education level that far surpassed Yoshimura's, it would have been strange if she hadn't noticed anything amiss after living with Yoshimura and Touka Kirishima for so long.
Of course, at most Ai could only have detected issues with Yoshimura and the others, understanding they belonged to an organisation - she likely wouldn't know more than that.
Therefore, Luo Shu wasn't particularly surprised by her reaction, though he needed to correct her misconception:
"No, not poison. A drug to reverse ageing."
Ai's frown deepened at this. While she knew her exposed identity meant the drug's exposure too, such an explicit description still filled her with resignation.
She understood that given her demonstrated value, she'd probably spend the rest of her life in Luo Shu's pharmaceutical research facility.
This was something she'd anticipated long ago - ever since suspecting Yoshimura was an executioner raised by some organisation, she'd known this day might come.
Now facing it directly, all she felt was helplessness.
"I only remember partial data about that drug. Recreating it would be nearly impossible without massive funding and long-term research."
Truthfully, Ai had no desire to resume drug research. After staying at Yoshimura's home for so long - even being sent to Teitan Elementary by the old man - she'd grown unexpectedly attached to this sense of family.
Sometimes she wondered if living here as an ordinary child might suit her better.
But given current circumstances, she couldn't escape pharmaceutical research.
Compared to being forced into research by the Distillery, Ai now preferred passive resistance.
'You want me to research drugs? Fine, I'll research them. But expect me to work hard? Wake up - isn't that exhausting?'
'My sister's dead, I've turned into a child - do you really think you can force me back into those dark research days?'
The answer's obvious.
Of course, though she felt like slacking off, Ai Haibara still dutifully explained the challenges of Research A. She might be slacking, but she wasn't suicidal—after all, who knew how much Luo Shu already knew about A? She'd already experienced the consequences of dishonesty within this dark organisation once before.
"Don't worry about the drug data. I've already arranged for someone to negotiate with the Distillery."
"The Distillery?"
Ai Haibara glanced at Luo Shu in surprise. She'd always referred to the group controlling her research as the 'Organisation', so hearing Luo Shu say 'Distillery' caught her off guard.
"Quite an apt codename, actually."
"If we have complete research data, producing the drug is feasible. But reversing ageing requires a specific individual... And currently..."
Before she could finish, Luo Shu said calmly:
"Shinichi Kudo is currently in my custody."
Ai Haibara fell silent.
Had Luo Shu been monitoring her all this time?
After all, she'd recently contacted Professor Agasa precisely to extract information about Shinichi Kudo's whereabouts from his neighbour.
She knew full well that Shinichi Kudo had seemingly also turned into a child... but she hadn't expected Luo Shu to know too.
"So it seems you've prepared everything in advance."
At this, Luo Shu smiled. "Would you like to see my sincerity?"
Hearing this, Ai Haibara looked up at Luo Shu, curiosity in her eyes.
With a flick of his wrist, Luo Shu produced a small stack of photos, pressing them onto the bar counter before sliding them towards Ai Haibara.
Before picking up the photo, Ai Haibara stared wide-eyed at the person lying in the ice coffin pictured within, exclaiming in shock:
"Big Sister?!!"
She abruptly looked up at Luo Shu, her eyes brimming with indescribably complex emotions.
At that moment, Luo Shu said calmly:
"Just as the Distillery possesses rejuvenation drugs, isn't it reasonable that our organisation has mastered a resurrection technique?"
"So, Miss Miyano, would you like to consider it?"
The moment he finished speaking, Luo Shu heard Ai Haibara's reply:
"No need to say more, I'm in!!"
Hearing this, Luo Shu smiled with narrowed eyes and extended his hand:
"Then, a pleasant partnership!"
"A pleasant partnership!"
A large and small hand clasped together in that moment.